Provoke the Sea
by talesofmisery
Summary: The call of the ocean has never been so loud for Ariel's great-granddaughter, Arietta. Using the magic that runs deep in her blood, she does what she needs to do to restore herself back to her families original state; back to a Mermaid. Unaware that a lurker hid in the shadows, Arietta accidentally binds the female to herself and curses her for life.
1. Chapter 1

I saw her there, wading into the waves as they crashed about her knees. Pale rose hair gleamed dimly in the moonlight, tangling in the breeze. Faint muttering reached my ears, words so hushed I could not make them out over the gurgling of the water. Leaning forward over the edge of the low cliff, I stretched nearer, needing to understand the lilting melody as it drifted about the cavern.

The cavern I had wandered across looked as if it had been underwater at one point in its existance. The walls were worn, eroding in places as they reached and curved upwards to meet at a tiny opening. 'I could squeeze out of there,' I mused, 'If only I could climb high enough to reach it.' My gaze caught on shards and fragments of items from a world once lost. Metal glinted, statues crumbled. It was a wastland, hidden away in the side of, what appeared on the outside, a large rock.

The wind shifted, gaining strength as the girl lifted her arms. Her voice rang out comanding the water to raise. It bubbled and surged about her, flowing out from beneath where she stood. She was a sight, lit up from some unearthly glow that seemed to radiate out of her very being. I took in her soft skin, splashes of freckles ran over her shoulders, the bridge of her nose, down an exposed hip as though painted by the same Gods who created the lilium. Reaching out to a ledge nearest her, she retrieved a simple blade. The air stilled very suddenly as this beautiful creature slit the braided belt that help together her soaked slip of a gown and bared herself to the moonlight. Her back arched. I watched in horror as she thrust the tip of the knife into her right thigh. Her scream rang out as she ripped her flesh, the now motionless water below her murky and red with blood.

I clamped my hands over my mouth, forcing back the urge to vomit. Swift movement from the females knife as she carved an unknown symbol into her skin. Ragged breathing, hers and mine, the only sounds now. I watched as the knife fell from her hand. I gasped, losing my balance as the precipice collapsed from under me, throwing me into the bloodstained depths. I hit hard, the water more shallow in this spot than I had anticipated. I couldn't breathe, my lung screamed for oxygen. 'I'm drowning in her!' Flailing, I forced my body to react. Half rolling half swimming onto my feet. "Transverto corpus meum sanguinem meum!"

Once my head cleared the surface I sputtered, pain encompassing my side. Lathargic fingers drifted to the area, trembling over a deep laceration. But I could not concintrate on my own pain for in the next moment a resounded cackle erupted, turning into a wail as the sea once more began to churn and boil. To my shock I watched as this creature was heaved into the air, her body surrounded by a thick fog. The light in the cavern, what little there had been from the hole in the ceiling, turned a sickly green and before my own eyes I watched as her frail form contorted. I could hear her bones breaking, feel the fog pulsate in exitement as her legs came together. Flesh and muscle ripping as scales protruded over her, a strange buldge began where her feet had once been, along her spine, on the back of her arms. She cried out as fins ruptured from these locations.

My body burned in the ice cold water, I could not catch my breath. I felt as if something encircled my wrists, I felt myself being pulled down. The last thing I remember before unconsciousness claimed me, before the weight of the tormented water fully encompassed my sight was the woman's eyes; Strikingly blue even in the eery green haze.

* * *

** "Transverto corpus meum sanguinem meum" is Latin for 'transform my body my blood'.


	2. Chapter 2

Arietta-

'What have I done?' Panic filled my mind as I realized that I did not recognize my own body. Deep down to the depths of my core I ached, a shock of electric pins coursing through me as I tried to move. I felt different; I felt heavy. I felt something but it did not feel right. Forcing my eyes open I saw through crystalline waters, watched sun light dance and glimmer between the slow moving currents. I remained there motionless against the wet sand until an unnatural movement caught my attention to the left of me. Bracing myself, I shut my eyes and forced myself to sit up; no pain now. "I have a tail!" I felt giddy, hands running over the slippery scales where human flesh had once been.

I was in awe of myself, of the colors that gleamed under my fingertips. I took just a moment longer to marvel over the greens and yellows glowing in my tail, to admire the way red tints sparkled from in between the scales like rubies beneath the surface. Someone was scrambling onto the shore, what little of it there was after water filled the cavern, rapid breathing loud and terrified.

"Wha- wh- how-what?!" Whomever was causing the commotion lurched onto the beach, gasping air as if they could not inhale it fast enough. I peered at them from the water, eyes bobbing above the soft crests, unsure of why they were there. Anger filled me at the intrusion and I wondered how much this being had seen. 'It's a girl,' I realized when shaking hands shoved matted black hair from her large grey eyes. She looked around, fright a clear expression on her high cheekboned face. "What is wrong with me!?" The question burst forth from her with such force that it echoed off the cavern walls and causing me to dive beneath the water. "You did this to me! You did this! Why?"

* * *

Maeve-

"You did this to me! You did this! Why?" Tears mixed with sea water streamed down my face as I tried to collect my thoughts. My hands trembled terribly as I sat in utter confusion as I tried to process what had transpired. "My skin," I wailed, rubbing up and down my arms as if that would make the crude upraised tendrils disappear. Angry stretches of lilac snaked and twisted over my body, marring the normal olive tone.

I realized with a start that I was still bleeding from the gash in my side. "Help me!" I looked out at the female in the water and reached out, "Please." The lose of blood and over abundance of emotion took its toll, exhaustion like a weight dragging me down. Next thing I knew I had hit the sand. I lay there, sputtering the grains from my mouth, and felt my world get hazy. Darkness invaded my vision, a loud ringing struck up in my ears. 'This is how I die,' my thoughts whispered through my mind. I felt weak. I barely noticed when she pulled herself onto the land beside me and shoved me onto my back. 'I cannot breathe.'

"Open your eyes." Pressure now on my left side, "Look at me!" Pain blossomed where she pressed but I could not comply. I physically could not lift my lids, I couldn't even get my lungs to cooperate enough to inhale. "Dammit," Arietta ripped the rest of my shirt away from the wound and shoved two fingers inside of me. "Sana. Sano. Sarcio." She chanted the foreign words over and over, her voice gaining volume with urgency.

I began to sieze, my whole body lurching as fire exploded through my veins. "Sana. Sano. Sarcio!" Convulsions wracked over me and the pain grew more intense. "Sana." Just as quickly as the fire began it began to subside, "Sano." I felt chilled to the core, like a frozen weight had settle inside of myself, "Sarcio." Her palm rested atop the area as her words drifted out.

I remained still for a long time, eyes still tightly shut, but finally able to breath. Tears leaked from behind my eyelids to puddle momentarily in the dense sand. "Who are you?" I found my voice at last and asked the question I had wondered since first laying eyes on her.

"Arietta." She pulled me against her and stroke the sand from my hair. "Arietta." Breathlessly she repeated her name and I melted into her embrace.


End file.
